“Forensics” is a term used for public speaking, and this is a team that participates in public speaking competitions. We participate in four tournaments during the school year, from November through March. At Seventy-First Classical Middle School, students participate by attending after school practices. The team meets each week from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. by category. Please be prompt in picking up your student after practice. Meeting information will be included in the daily announcements. Students with questions about Forensics should see Mrs. Israel in Room 28.

In the beginning, students work on choosing a piece to perform during the meetings. Students MUST PRACTICE at home. The coaches expect to see improvement in preparing a piece from one week to the next. School meetings are for getting suggestions about improvement and demonstrating that improvement.

We are permitted only five participants in each event at a tournament. We try to take everyone to at least one tournament (if they have the piece memorized by the end of November). If there are more participants than five in an event, the individual coaches hold try-outs approximately two weeks prior to a tournament to choose those who will go.

If a student is selected to go, he/she will receive a letter of instructions and a permission slip to be filled out by a parent/guardian. After the registration for a tournament is submitted (about one week before the competition), we cannot change the list of competitors. Therefore, it is important for parents/guardians to be sure that their child participates if he/she is chosen. We travel to the tournament by bus from school, but parents are responsible for picking up their students from the tournament site.